The Tiger Woods Sympathy Train Rolls On

The Tiger Woods Sympathy Train Rolls On

The Tiger Woods Sympathy Train Rolls On

Now that the nation has pilloried Tiger Woods for more than four months, we're in a new mode of Tiger analysis: the sympathy mode. I pointed out
last week that
Vanity Fair
's Mark Seal
provided three emotional explanations for Tiger's outsize philandering: the bad influence of Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan, Tiger's experience with racism, and Tiger's complicated relationship with his father. In a new commercial, Nike takes this last explanation and exploits it to make Tiger into a conflicted, thoughtful creature rather than a sex machine.

The ad, embedded below,
shows Tiger looking straight into the camera
, appearing bleary and contrite. The voiceover is Tiger's deceased father, Earl Woods, saying "Tiger? I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was, I want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything?" The commercial is telling the audience, in a subtle, smart way: Stop judging Tiger! Look into his soul instead. It's a brilliant move on Nike's part, one that goes perfectly with Tiger's
therapy-speak press conferences
.

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Jessica Grose is a frequent Slate contributor and the author of the novel Sad Desk Salad. Follow her on Twitter.